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Constitution and By-Laws 



OF THE 



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Rhode Island Society 



OF THE 



Sons of the American Revolution. 




ADOPTED OCTOBER 18, 1893 



PROVIDENCE : 
E. A, Johnson & Company, Printers. 

1893- 



-*I 



Constitution and By-Laws 



OF THE 



Rhode Island Society 



OF THE 



Sons of the American Revolution. 




Adopted October is, 1893. 



PROVIDENCE : 

E. A. Johnson & Company, Printers. 

1893. 



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7?^ 3 



RHODE ISLAND SOCIETY 

OF THE 

SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 

Organized February i, 1890. 
OFFICERS : 

Amasa M. Eaton, President. 

R. GRENviivtE Brown, Vice-President. 
Christopher Rhodes, Secretary. 

Olney Arnold, II., Treasurer. 
Edward Field, Registrar. 

Alfred Stone, Historian. 

Rev. Frederic Denison, ^ 

Chaplain and Poet. 

Delegates to the National Society: 

Wilfred h. Munro, Dexter b. Potter. 

Alternates : William E. Foster, Alfred m. Williams, 
John E. Kendrick. 



Name. 



At a meeting of the Rhode Island Society of the Sons 
of the American Revolution held on the eighteenth day 
of October, 1893, the following Constitution and By- 
Laws were unanimously adopted : 

CONSTITUTION. 

Article I. 

The name of this society shall be the Rhode Island 
Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. 

Article II. 

The purposes of the Society are patriotic and social; to 
Objects cherish and maintain among ourselves and our descendants 
of the and in the community, the institutions of American free- 
Society. fjQj^ ^ |-Q perpetuate the spirit and memory of the deeds of 
the patriots who achieved American Independence, and who 
secured to us the blessings of Liberty ; to promote the fitting celebra- 
tions of anniversaries commemorating the events connected with the 
War of the Revolution ; to collect and preserve documents and relics 
relating to said War ; and to promote social intercourse and fellow- 
ship among its members now and hereafter. 

Article III. 

Any man shall be eligible to membership in this Society, 
Eligibility, who, being of the age of twenty-one years or over, and a 

citizen of good repute in the community, is the lineal de- 
scendant of an ancestor, who was at all times unfailing in his loyalty to 
and rendered actual service in the cause of American Independence, 
either as an officer, soldier, seaman, marine, militiaman or minute man, 
in the armed forces of the Continental Congress, or of any one of the 
several Colonies or States ; or as a Signer of the Declaration of Inde- 



pendence j or as a member of a Committee of Safety or Correspond- 
ence ; or as a member of any Continental, Provincial, or Colonial Con- 
gress or Legislature ; or as a civil ofificer, either of one of the Colonies 
or States or of the national government ; or as a recognized patriot who 
performed actual service by overt acts of resistance to the authority of 
Great Britain. 



Article IV. 

The officers of this society shall be a President, Vice-Presi- 
Officers. dent, Secretary, Treasurer, Registrar, Historian, Chaplain 
and Poet, who shall hold office until their successors are 
elected. 



Article V, 

A meeting of the Society for the election of officers shall 
Meetings, be held annually in the City of Providence on the 2 2d day 
of February, at 12 o'clock noon, at such place as may be 
designated by the Board of Managers, 

There shall also be elected, in addition to the officers provided for 
in Article IV, one Delegate at Large and one Delegate for each one 
hundred or fraction of one hundred, exceeding fifty members, who, 
together with such officers as are provided for by the Constitution of 
the National Society, shall represent this society in the National Society. 
Upon the completion of such election and the transaction of such busi- 
ness as shall be appropriate to the annual meeting, said meeting shall 
adjourn to a place which shall be provided by the Board of Managers 
where a dinner shall be served, at which the newly elected president 
shall preside. Included in the exercises attending the annual dinner 
shall be a toast " To the patriots of the American Revolution." 

Whenever said 2 2d day of February shall fall on Sunday the meet- 
ing shall be held on the following day. 

In the elections by the Society a majority of the ballots cast shall be 
necessary for a choice. 



Article VI. 

There shall be a Board of Managers whose duty it shall be 
Board of to conduct the affairs of this society, which board shall con- 
Managers, sist of the officers of this society and the delegates to the 
National Society, 

Article VII. 

The President, Vice-President and Chaplain shall not be eligible for 
re-election as their own successors. 

Article VIII. 

The seal of the society shall be two inches in diameter and 
Seal. shall represent a hghted beacon surmounting a hill enveloped 

by thirteen stars, the whole encircled by a band one-quar- 
ter of an inch wide upon which shall appear the Legend in raised let- 
ters, " Rhode Island Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, 
Organized Feb. i, 1890." 

Article IX. 

This Constitution may be amended at any regular meeting 

Amend- ^^ ^j^^ Society or at any special meeting called for that pur- 
m©nts 

pose : provided, that the proposed amendment shall be in- 
troduced at a previous, regular or special meeting of the Society, and 
approved by a majority of the members present. 



BY-LAWS. 



Section i . All applications for membership in this society shall be in 
duplicate upon blank forms furnished by the society, and each applica- 
tion shall be accompanied by the membership fee, which shall be 
returned if the applicant is not accepted. Such applications shall be 
submitted to the Registrar for examination, and shall be reported by 
him to the Board of Managers, and when approved by said board and 
the Registrar General, and upon subscribing to the Constitution and 
By-Laws the applicant shall become a member of the Society. 

Sec. 2. The membership fee shall be one dollar, and yearly dues 
two dollars. The payment of fifty dollars by a member at any one 
time shall constitute the person paying such sum a life member, and he 
shall thereafter be exempt from the payment of annual dues, and any 
amount so received shall be set aside and invested as a permanent 
fund, the income only to be used for such purposes as the Board of 
Managers shall determine. Annual dues shall be paid to the Secretary 
on or before the 2 2d day of February in each year, but members 
becoming such during the months of December and January, and in 
February previous to the 2 2d day, shall not be liable for payment of 
dues for the preceding year. The Secretary shall notify the members 
three months in arrears, and non-payment of dues in three months 
thereafter shall be regarded as terminating the membership of such per- 
son, unless the members shall present a satisfactory excuse acceptable 
to the Board of Managers. 

Sec. 3. The Society shall hold at least one meeting in each year for 
the purpose of celebrating some event in Revolutionary history ; at such 
time and place as may be determined by the Board of Managers, and 
said Board shall also determine the manner of such celebration. 



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Sec. 4. The regular meetings of the Board of Managers shall be held 
upon the third Wednesday of January, April, July and October in each 
year. Special meetings may be called by the President at any time, 
and shall be called upon the written request of any three members of 
the board of managers or five members of the society. Three mem- 
bers of the board of managers shall constitute a quorum at a meeting 
of said board. Five members of the society shall constitute a quo- 
rum at a meeting of said society. 

Sec. 5. The President, or, in his absence, the Vice-President, or, in 
their absence a chairman pro tem., shall preside at all meetings of the 
society and of the board of managers, and shall have a casting vote. 
The presiding officer shall preserve order, and shall decide all questions 
of order, subject to appeal to the meeting. He shall present an ad- 
dress in writing at the annual meeting at the end of his term of office. 

Sec. 6. The Secretary shall receive all money from the members, 
and shall pay it over to the Treasurer, taking his receipt for the same. 
He shall conduct the general correspondence of the society, shall notify 
members of their election to membership and to office and of such 
other matters as the society may direct. He shall have charge of the 
seal, and such records of the society as are not herein given especially 
in charge of the other officers of the society and together with the 
presiding officer he shall certify all acts and orders of the society. He 
shall, under the direction of the President or acting President, give no- 
tice of the time and place of all meetings of the society and of the 
board of managers, and shall attend the same. He shall keep accurate 
reports of the meetings of the society and of the board of managers, 
and shall give such notices of the votes, orders and proceedings of the 
society or board of managers as they shall direct, and he shall report in 
writing at each annual meeting. 

Sec. 7. The Treasurer shall receive all money from the Secretary 
and give his receipt for the same ; which money he shall deposit in the 
name of the society and shall pay out only for the benefit of the society, 
in such sums as the society or the board of managers may direct, and' 
upon the order of the Secretary, countersigned by the President. He 
shall keep a true account of his receipts and disbursements and at each 



annual meeting shall make a full report to the society. The books of 
the Secretary and Treasurer shall at all times be open to the inspection 
of the President and the board of managers and to the auditing com- 
mittee. 

Sec. 8. The board of managers shall judge of the qualifications of 
appHcants for membership, and shall have control and management of the 
affairs of the society. They shall appoint an auditing committee ; they 
shall also have power to fill all vacancies. 

Sec. 9. The Registrar shall receive all applications and proofs of 
membership ; he shall examine the same and report his opinion thereon 
to the Board of Managers. He may return imperfect and incorrect 
appUcations to the applicant for correction or completion. He shall 
forward to the Registrar General one copy of such applications as have 
been approved by him and accepted by the Board of Managers, and 
preserve one copy in the files in his office, and shall make a record of 
the same in a book prepared for that purpose, and from time to time 
have the originals suitably bound for preservation. He shall have the 
custody of all the historical, geographical and genealogical papers, books, 
manuscripts and relics of which the society may become possessed. 
He shall be authorized to deposit such books, papers, manuscripts and 
relics in the Rhode Island Historical Society as may be necessary for 
their safety and preservation, to be marked, "Deposited by the Rhode 
Island Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. " He shall 
receive twenty-five cents for recording each accepted application, and 
shall make a report in writing at each annual meeting. 

Sec. 10. The Historian shall keep a record of all facts in connection 
with the society which he may judge to be of historic value, and shall 
make an address in writing at each annual dinner. 

Sec. II. The Chaplain shall perform such devotional and religious 
duties as may be called for by the Board of Managers in the course of 
business or exercises of the society. 

Sec. 12. One of the objects of the society being to collect and 
preserve documents relating to the War of the Revolution it shall be 



the duty of the Board of Managers to provide for the annual publication 
of a volume under the general title, " Manual of the Rhode Island 
Society of the Sons of the American Revolution " which shall contain 
beside the yearly reports and proceedings of the society, and names of 
members admitted from time to time, with an account of their ancestors' 
service in the Revolution, such papers or documents as may be obtained 
by the society outside of the Public Archives relating to the American 
Revolution, the expense of the same to be paid by the Society. 

Sec. 13. These by-laws shall not be altered or amended unless such 
alterations or amendments shall have been proposed in writing at a 
previous meeting of the Board of Managers, and shall have been entered 
upon the records, with the name of the member proposing the change, 
and shall be adopted by a majority of the members present at a regular 
meeting of the society or at a special meeting called for that purpose. 

A true copy. Attest: 

Christopher Rhodes, Secretary. 



THE PROVIDENCE BEACON, 
1775- 

The following abstract from a paper read by Edward 
Field, Esq., before the Rhode Island Historical Society 
on January 26, 1886, is here printed for the purpose of 
explaining the significance of the design on the seal of 
the Society: 

" At a town meeting in Providence, held July 3d," [1775] "it was 
voted, among other matters, that the town take steps regarding the erec- 
tion of a beacon to alarm the country in case of the approach of an 
enemy. 

" One week later at a town meeting a committee, consisting of Joseph 
Brown, Joseph Buckhn and Benjamin Thurber, were appointed to 
* erect a beacon on the hill to the eastward of the town to alarm the 
country in case of an enemy's approach.' The hill designated for the 
location of this beacon was the one now known as Prospect Hill, then 
called Beacon Hill, and the spot, near what is now the corner of Pros- 
pect and Meeting streets. A beacon had been erected at this location 
more than a century before, in May, 1667, during the Indian war in the 
colony. The work was immediately commenced. 

" The Providence Gazette, the first newspaper pubUshed in Providence^ 
on July 29, 1775, informed the colonists that ' a beacon is now erecting 
on a very high hill in the town by order of the Honorable General 
Assembly. A watch is likewise kept on Tower Hill in case of any at- 
tempt by water from our savage enemies.' 

" Thus far, besides the enlistment of minute men, the beacon had been 
the only great measure of precaution or defence adopted, but the towns- 
people were alive to the situation and were diligently at work. As early 
as the middle of June, Mr. Paul Allen had made up the town stock of 
powder and lead into cartridges, agreeable to a vote of the town, and 
he was directed to deliver out these cartridges, and take a receipt, to 



such of the inhabitants as he thought would make a proper use of them^ 
besides promising to return them on demand if not used in the colonies' 
service. Not more than seventeen cartridges for each firearm fit for use 
was to be delivered, and the sum of nine pence in lawful money was 
imposed for each missing cartridge at any ordered review. 

" On the 20th day of July news of a startling nature was received from 
Newport. The British ships under command of Captain James Wallace 
lay in line-of-battle with the intention of bombarding the town. Great 
excitement prevailed through the colony. Two days later the British 
commander, probably realizing the importance of Newport as a rendez- 
vous, abandoned the idea of bombarding and departed on a cruise. At 
Providence the news of the departure of the fleet was gladly received, for 
had Wallace desired, nothing was to prevent his fleet from sailing into the 
harbor and laying waste all within its reach, as the defences of the town 
were entirely inadequate to cope with the British ships * * *." In con- 
sequence of this proposed attack, the inhabitants of Providence resolved 
to take immediate action towards the town's further defence. A town 
meeting was convened July 31, 1775, and the Honorable Nicholas Cooke 
chosen moderator; little business other than that appertaining to the de- 
fence of the town was transacted at this meeting. Fortifications were 
ordered built at Fox Hill, at Fox Point, and intrenchments and breast- 
works were ordered to ' be hove up between Field's and Sassafras Points 
of sufficient capacity to cover a body of men ordered there on any 
emergency.' Captain Nicholas Power was directed to superintend their 
construction and draw upon the town treasury to defray the expense ; but 
if there was not sufficient funds in the hands of the town, he was to be 
paid interest on any amount he might advance until he was paid. He was 
also ordered to advise and consult with Capt. Esek Hopkins, Ambrose 
Page, Capt. John Updike, Samuel Nightingale, Jr., Capt. William Earle 
and Capt. Simon Smith, who were appointed a committee on the man- 
ner of building these fortifications. 

"A battery of six i8-pounders was ordered to be located at the Fox 
Hill fort, and four cannon to be mounted as field pieces. The com- 
mittee were instructed to draw up rules for regulating the battery, and 
to obtain permission of the owners of the land on which to build the 
works. * * * 

" The committee having in charge the erection of these defences, ap- 



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pointed Capt. Samuel Warner to take charge of the Fox Hill fort upon 
its completion, with all its guns, stores and material. * * * Meanwhile, 
the beacon had approached completion, and the committee, under 
whose direction it had been built, were ordered ' to fire the same on 
Thursday, the 1 7th day of August, at the setting of the sun, and that 
they procure one thousand handbills to be printed to advertise the 
country thereof, that proper observations may be made of the bearings 
of the beacon from different parts of the country, and that they notify 
the country that the beacon will not be fired at any time after August 
17th, unless the town or some part of the colony should be attacked by 
an enemy, in which case the beacon will be fired and three cannon dis- 
charged to alarm the country that they may immediately repair to the 
town, duly equipped with arms and accoutrements.' It is probable that 
these handbills contained the same information as the following notice 
which appeared in the Gazette on August 1 2th : 

PROVIDENCE BEACON. 

The Tozvn of Providence to the inhabitants of the towns adjacent: 

' Loving friends and brethren, in consequence of the recommenda- 
tion of the Continental Congress that those seaport towns which are 
principally exposed to the ravages and depredations of our common 
enemies should be fortified and put into as good a state of defence as 
may be, which has also received the approbation of the legislature of the 
colony ; besides a strong battery and intrenchment on the river, there 
has been lately erected on the greatest eminence in the town, A Beacon 
for the purpose of alarming the country whenever it shall become nec- 
essary in our defence, and as we doubt not of the readiness of our friends 
and brethren, both within and without the government, to give us every 
assistance in their power on such an occasion if timely apprized there- 
of. This is therefore to inform you that it is our urgent request that 
you all hold yourselves in readiness, and whenever you see said beacon 
on fire you immediately and without delay, with the best accoutrements, 
war-like weapons and stores you have by you, repair to the town of 
Providence, there to receive from the military officers prfesent such orders 
as may be given by the authority of this jurisdiction for our common 
safety and defence. In case of an alarm we intend to fire the beacon 



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and also discharge cannon to notify all to look out for the beacon. Be it 
observed and carefully remembered that the discharge of cannon Alone 
is not an alarm, but the firing of the beacon of itself, even without can- 
non, will be an alarm in all cases, excepting on Thursday, the 1 7th 
inst., at sunset, when the beacon will be fired not as an alarm, but that 
all may ascertain its bearings and fix such ranges as may secure them 
from a false alarm, and that they may know where to look for it here- 
after. When you hear the cannon look out for the beacon.' 

" This trial proved a perfect success. A letter received by John Carter, 
the publisher of the Gazette, states that it was observed over an area of 
country extending from Cambridge Hill to New London and Norwich, 
and from Newport to Pomfret. It is stated that many of the inhabitants 
of the neighboring country, not properly notified of this trial, hurriedly 
left their homes and promptly repaired to Providence to report for duty, 
imagining that the town was about to be invaded by the enemy. This 
structure was very simple in its design, consisting of a wooden shaft or 
mast,* about 85 feet in height, securely braced at the foundation ; wooden 
pegs or steps, at regular intervals, projected from either side to enable 
a person to climb to the top. From the end of this shaft an iron crane 
extended, from which hung an iron basket ; this was filled with inflam- 
mable material. By order of the town, a house was built at its base in 
which to store the combustibles, so as to be ready at a moment's notice. 
The beacon, probably, was never fired after the trial of August 1 7th, un- 
less, perhaps, at the proclamation of peace it was used to spread the 
glad tidings throughout the neighboring country * * *." 



The Town of Providence to N. Angell, Dr. 
1775- 
July 25 To I Spar for Beacon £,2.'& 

Did. Joseph Brown 
[Endorsement.] 
Pay the within Ace. to Nathan Angell it being for the Use of the Town for the 
Beacon, Two pounds Eight shillings 

To James Arnold, Town Treasr., Joseph Brown, 

Received the above, 

Pr. Jas. Angell. 
[See Providence Town papers Vol. II No. 825.] 



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